The Uniqueness of African Children Toys

by Adriana
Filed under Kids Activities, Latest News, Product Reviews

Children all over the world enjoy having toys to play with. In some places, such as the United States, people can easily go into a store and purchase toys. There are other places, such as some countries in Africa, where children basically make their own toys. There are numerous reasons for this. Oftentimes, mainstream toys may not be available to many African children mainly because of monetary issues. Fortunately, the lack of funds does not keep African children from having fun. Many of them learn at a very young age how to utilize common items in order to make fun toys. Some of the simplest items such as tin cans and even mud can be used to make toys.

Some of the most widely used items to create African children toys are old tires, wire, sticks, rags, twine and mud. Even old soda cans can be cut or crushed to create toy cars or model airplanes. Rags and twine are often bound together with the mud in order to create balls that children use to play soccer and other games. Sometimes children use sticks, wire and wheels that are found locally to create toys that they can be pushed around or used for races. Figurines are often made from mud. Children gather mud and form figures such as animals or dolls. These mud figurines are allowed to dry usually in the sun. Sometimes children will decorate their figurines with cloth or use a rock to make indentations.

In many ways these toys are homemade versions of some of the more modern toys that are available in other countries. These African children toys are very inexpensive to make and are in many ways quite ingenious. Oftentimes, African children will use common items in order to play games. For example, children that want to jump rope can easily use a long piece of heavy duty twine or a long rope. Games such as hopscotch can be played by using old tires. A swing set can be easily made by using a strong rope and an old tire tied to a tree. While there may not be a lot of money or resources for some children in Africa to afford many of the mainstream toys, the fact that African children can utilize the items that they do have to create toys that are very similar to the toys that children in more industrialized societies play with is quite amazing.

It is also important to note that the surroundings of children in Africa also play a very important part in the types of toys they make and the games they play. Children that live near the water for example are more likely to create rafts that they can use for water play. Similarly, children that live in sandy areas may use the sand itself as a game board with rocks substituting for game pieces. Thus, African children are very ingenious using simple, common items to create toys to play with.